Category: COVID-19 / coronavirus

A Southern California outbreak highlights failures of the American health care system

As CNN and other outlets report, rates of COVID-19 have been overwhelming Imperial County, California, for the past two months. Bordered to the west by San Diego County, to the east by Arizona, and to the south by Mexico, the rate of new infections and…

Doctors shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family [PODCAST]

“Although I personally hope to continue to be at or near the frontlines, I understand those that are in a compromised position, and they shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family. There is no portion of the Hippocra…

4 ways to break the COVID-19 compassion walls

A few days after my dad flew to Salt Lake City from California, he developed a small cough and fatigue, and then started getting fevers. At that time in late February and early March, we were only testing people who had come from high-risk countries (l…

My intersection of race and privilege with COVID-19

I am a 40-year-old Black, female pediatric psychologist, and I contracted COVID-19.  So did my 95-year-old grandmother.  This virus flourishes within the inequities, bred by historical and current racism, of social determinants of health, having a more…

The hidden danger to physicians in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD. Practicing medicine has always been hard, and as all of us have experienced over the past several months, living and working through a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime pandemic h…

We are women in academic medicine, and we are doing enough

A conversation with friends and family usually starts with, “How are you holding up?” My answer is not usually about work, but rather a response of …”Well, it’s going OK, but I wasn’t really meant to be a homeschool teacher.” As the pandemic marches on…

The current COVID-19 testing climate is unnecessarily complicated

.Its 7 a.m. on a Monday morning, and my wife and I had canceled our family vacation to the beaches of Cape San Blas, Florida, where we had planned on spending our week off, relaxing on an isolated beach. My daughter wakes up at 7:15 a.m. on that Monday…

A physician-parent’s thoughts on reopening schools

Spoiler alert: If you are looking for the “right” answer as to whether or not your school should reopen for in-person teaching or if you should send your kid to school (versus virtual learning), you will not find that answer below.  But you will find s…

Why we need clear face masks

Have you noticed yourself straining to hear people wearing masks? Me too. Every interaction I have these days feels exhausting. I worry about how hard this will be in the busy ER, and especially for my colleagues and friends with trouble hearing. Even …

Medical students are benched during the pandemic

Anyone who has ever played sports knows the feeling of being “benched.” I’ll recall my own experience participating in middle school football. I worked exceptionally hard during practice to prove myself to the coaches. A burning, ince…